Thursday, April 18, 2013

Live music may boost health in premature babies

“A new study has claimed that listening to live music may
boost the health of premature babies who are being treated in the neonatal
intensive care unit.”

According to the research, when the premature babies in
intensive care listened to live music, they showed measurable improvements in
heart rate, sucking behavior, sleep patterns and calorie intake. Adding up,
MyHealthNewsDaily reported, music helped parents and babies bond, and relieved
the stress of parents. The US study at 11 hospitals was composed of 272
premature infants in neonatal intensive care units, or NICUs. The infants had
health issues from breathing problems, bacterial bloodstream infections or down
to were small for their age. The researchers examined at preemies` reactions to
three types of music therapy.One is an
instrument involved a Remo ocean disc that produces a soothing “whoosh” sound.
Another one is an intervention involved a gato box, which is a drumlike wooden
box that is played softly with the fingers.

“According to the researchers, the ocean disc imitates the
sound of the in utero environment and in effect it could have a soothing,
sleep-enhancing consequence, whereas the gato box would sound akin to a
mother`s heartbeat.”

While in the third intervention, parents sang a lullaby to
their baby, what researchers call a “song of kin”, that had a cultural,
childhood or religious meaning.But they
sang the default tune of “Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star” if the parents didn`t
have a song of kin.For 10 minutes three times a week for two weeks each baby
was exposed to each intervention. Results demonstrated that each music
intervention had special various health benefits. In some case, preemies whose
parents sang to them had the furthermost boost in activity or alertness.

The whooshing sound of the Remo ocean disc was connected
with the utmost development in sleep patterns, and the sounds produced by the
gato box amplified babies` sucking behavior, that consequently helped with
swallowing and breathing. Comparing both babies who listened to song of kin and
“Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star”, babies who heard a song of kin consumed more
calories than babies who listened to “Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star.”Conversely, babies who heard “Twinkle,
Twinkle” had to some extent higher levels of oxygen in their blood. Parents who
sang to their babies reported feeling much less stress.

“The findings mean musical therapies could be tailored to
the specific needs of a preemie,” said study researcher Joanne Loewy, director
of the Louis Armstrong Center for Music & Medicine at Beth Israel Medical
Center in New York. “Live sounds are the key. When a music therapist teaches
parents to entrain with the baby`s vital signs, it can have a therapeutic
effect,” Loewy said. The sounds researchers utilized during the study varied
from 55 to 65 decibels, alike to the volume of a moderate rainfall or a
conversation. | source - springhill medical